This dissertation encompasses two studies: one developing virtual field trips for mobile devices for an innovative approach to lower-division geoscience education, and the other examining the role of rock strength in river erosion and landscape evolution. The education study involves the development of three virtual field trip modules (Geologic Time, Geologic Structures, and Hydrologic Processes, all free on iTunes and Google Play) that lead students down a virtual Colorado River through Grand Canyon by physically moving around their campus quad, football field or other location, using their GPS-equipped smart phone or tablet. As students reach each location in the scaled down and geo-referenced virtual Grand Canyon, an informative video appears with a themed geological question and an interactive touchscreen activity. The effectiveness of these three modules in terms of student engagement and learning was tested at five U.S. Colleges with a range of missions and student demographics. Results show that the virtual field trip modules are effective at increasing student interest across races and genders in the geosciences, do not detract from student learning, and have the potential to increase content comprehension. The second study is the examination of the relation between rock strength and topography in the Colorado Plateau. This work contributes empirical data to the age-old debate over the mechanisms and patterns of stream erosion through statistical relations between rock strength and stream power, river steepness, and valley width along the Green-Colorado River system. Estimates of an “effective” tensile strength were calculated for units too incompetent to test directly, such as the shales prevalent in the region. Results indicate bedrock strength is a first-order control on river erosion in this landscape, as suggested by John Wesley Powell in 1896: “where the rocks are firm and stable, corrasion [sic] of the stream is slow; where the rocks are soft, corrasion [sic] is more rapid,” which is intuitive yet frequently overlooked.

Through the research methods of questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews, this study aims to explore the identity construction process of Chinese youth in mobile games and its influencing factors. It has been found that players' identity construction is a complex, multidimensional, and dynamic process in which gaming experiences, social interactions, consumption behaviors, and emotional responses are key factors in construction of identity. Specifically, players construct and express their self-identity in mobile games through character selection, completion of in-game tasks, and in-game social interactions; online and offline social interactions enhance players' sense of belonging and recognition of their identity; players' consumption of virtual items improves players' status in the gaming community and their sense of self-recognition; and in-game emotional experiences have a significant impact on identity construction and recognition. In addition, gender stereotypes still exist in mobile games and have some degree of influence on players' identity construction in mobile games. Further, this study also focuses on analyzing the impact of the convergence of online and offline identities on Chinese youth's identity construction. This convergence promotes youth identity in both online and offline communities, reinforcing the influence of gaming culture in players' lives and blurring their self-presentation in different environments. However, while this convergence is an irreversible trend, there are specific types of games where players are avoiding it as much as possible because they want to establish distinct boundaries between online and offline identities for a better gaming experience and to try to explore more different identities in an anonymous environment. The contributions of this study are, first, to extend the application of identity construction and identity theory to online spaces and mobile games. Second, this study analyzes the behavioral patterns and characteristics of Chinese youth's identity construction in mobile games, demonstrating the new dynamics of youth identity construction in digital culture. Third, the results of the study provide theoretical support and relevance for understanding the behavior and psychology of contemporary Chinese youth in mobile games, and provide practical references for the fields of game design and policy making. In addition, this study has certain limitations, such as the small sample size and the primary reliance on qualitative data, which may lead to generalizability of the findings to be further verified, as well as the possibility of some degree of social desirability bias. Therefore, future research can be conducted to further validate and enrich the findings of this study by expanding the sample size, combining behavioral data and empirical research. It is worth to note that with the popularization of VR, AR and AI technologies, the boundaries of identity construction in offline and online spaces may be further blurred, and identity research will also be expected to usher in new theoretical challenges and opportunities, which provides a broad space for future research.

Mobile learning has significant potential to be very influential in further and higher education. In this research a new definition for Mobile Educational Mixed Reality Games (MEMRG) is proposed based on a mobile learning environment. A questionnaire and a quantifying scale are utilised to assist the game developers in designing a MEMRG. A 'Conversational Framework' is proposed as an appropriate psycho-pedagogical approach to teaching and learning for MEMRG. This methodology is based on the theme of a 'conversation' between different actors of the learning community with the objective of building the architectural framework for MEMRG. Various elements responsible for instructing and motivating learners in educational games are utilised in an instructional-motivational model. User interface design for the games incorporates an efficient navigation system that uses contextual information, and allows the players to move seamlessly between real and virtual worlds. The implementation of MEMRG using the Java 2 Micro Edition (J2ME) platform iii is presented. The hardware and software specification for the MEMRG implementation and deployment are also discussed. MEMRG has produced improvements in the different cognitive processes of the learner, and also produced a deeper level of learning through enculturation, externalising ideas, and socialising. Learners' enjoyment, involvement, motivation, autonomy and metacognition skills have improved. This research will assist developers and teachers to gain an insight into learning paradigms which utilise mobile game environments that are formed by mixing real and virtual spaces, and provide them with a vision for effectively incorporating these games into formal and informal classroom sessions.

This paper investigates if the social aspects of playing with friends and participate in clans can increase long-term retention for mobile games. Specifically for the game Edge of Combat developed by the company Level Eight. To gain knowledge about how the players and industry perceive these features, a background study was conducted. The study reveals that playing with friends increases long-term retention in mobile games. It also indicates that participating in clans increases long-term retention but the evidence is not that strong. The next phase of the project indicates that playing with friends also increases long-term retention in Edge of Combat. Finally, participating in clans were investigated more thoroughly. The industry is very positive towards clans but that does not seem to reflect the player’s opinions about clans. Because of this the research question ”Can clan participation increase long-term retention in mobile games?” can not be confirmed. That clan participation could increase long-term retention in Edge of Combat could not be confirmed either. However, to be certain of this more research is needed on clans in mobile games taking into account the demographics of the participants in the project.

Appar är idag en stor marknad eftersom de flesta äger en smartphone och därför är potentiella appkonsumenter. Trots att endast en tredjedel av alla svenskar betalar för mobilspel spenderas hundratals miljoner kronor på köp av appar varje år. Spel är den mest populära appkategorin i svenska App Store och Google Play vilket gör att utvecklare som inte skapar spel har svårt att synas. En etablerad modell i marknadsföringsområdet är köpprocessen, som beskriver hela processen genom ett köp från behovsupptäckande till utvärdering av inköpt produkt. Förståelse för vad som påverkar konsumenter i de olika stegen är viktig för att kunna utforma sin marknadsföring effektivt.Eftersom mobilspel ofta är gratis kan köpprocessen vid nedladdning av spelappar skilja sig från den traditionella, då exempelvis impulsköp kan uppstå i betydande omfattning. Då appmarknaden fortfarande är ung är forskningen inom den begränsad. Syftet med denna studie är att undersöka hur köpprocessen ser ut vid nedladdning av spelappar. För ökad förståelse studeras även områden som påverkar de olika faserna i köpprocessen.Då det inte finns tidigare forskning i det undersökta området genomfördes en kvalitativ studie för att kunna identifiera beteendemönster. Tolv personer i åldrarna 16-25 som spelar spel på smartphones deltog på semi-strukturerade intervjuer och berättade hur de går tillväga när de skall ladda ner ett nytt mobilspel. En litteraturstudie av områden relaterade till köpprocessen ligger till grund för utformningen av intervjuguiden.Resultaten visar att behov av att ladda ner ett nytt mobilspel uppstår genom tristess eller rekommendationer. Information om spelet hämtas från spelets butikssida, där bland annat bilder och videor är betydande. När man är intresserad av ett kostnadsfritt spel laddar man i regel ner utan att tänka på några konsekvenser eftersom man kan avinstallera spelet ifall man inte gillade det. Uppfattningen av utvecklaren påverkas inte beroende på om man är nöjd med det nedladdade spelet eller inte, då man sällan tittar på utvecklaren när man letar efter ett nytt spel. En positiv uppfattning om spelet kan leda till att man rekommenderar spelet till vänner. Är man missnöjd kan man avråda folk man känner, men man brukar inte tala illa om ett spel utan att ha blivit tillfrågad.Studien visar att köpprocessen för nedladdning av gratisspel har fyra steg istället för fem medan processen för betalspel är oförändrad. När det gäller gratisspel har jämförelsefasen tagits bort då det inte sker någon jämförelse innan nedladdning. Informationssökningsfasen har översatts till uppfattning då det är mer beskrivande av fasens innebörd. Faktorer som påverkar de olika stegen i köpprocessen så som attityd, minne och känsloläge sammanfattas i en tabell. / Apps are today a big market since most people own a smartphone and thus are potential app consumers. Even though just a third of all Swedes pay for mobile games, hundreds of millions Swedish Crowns are spent buying apps each year. Games is the most popular app category in the Swedish App Store and Google Play, causing developers who are not making games struggle to be seen. An established model in marketing is the buying decision process, describing the entire process from need identification to evaluation of bought product. The understanding of areas affecting the different stages is important in order to successfully design effective marketing strategies.Since mobile games tend to be free, the buying decision process while downloading gaming apps may differ from the traditional process, since e.g. impulse buying behavior may happen in greater extent. Because the app market is still young, the research is limited. The purpose of this study is to look into the structure of the buying decision process for downloading gaming apps. To extend the understandings, areas affecting the different stages of the buying decision process are examined.Because there is no prior research addressing the studied area, a qualitative approach was performed in order to identify behavior patterns. 12 persons in the ages of 16-25 who play games on their smartphones participated on semi structured interviews, explaining their process for downloading a new mobile game. A literature study of areas related to the buying decision process is the basis for the design of the interview guide.The results show that the need for a new mobile game arises in due to boredom or recommendations. Information about the game is collected from the game’s page at the app store, images and videos being of great importance. When interested in a free game one usually download without regards of any consequences, because you can easily uninstall the game if you did not like it. The opinion of the developer is not affected whether you like the game or not due to the fact one rarely observe the developer while searching for a new game. A positive judgment of the game may lead to the player recommending the game to friends. When dissatisfied one may advise against the game to people you know, but it is rare to speak ill of a game without being asked about it.The study shows that the buying decision process for downloading free mobile games consists of four stages instead of five, while the process for priced games remains the same. Regarding free games, the evaluation of alternatives is removed due to the process being nonexistent prior to a download. The information search stage is replaced with perception, since it better fits to describe the meaning of the stage. Areas affecting the different stages of the buying decision process such as attitude, memory and affect are summarized in a table. The study is in Swedish.

Η εξέλιξη της τεχνολογίας στον τομέα του κινητού και διάχυτου υπολογισμού έχει δημιουργήσει πολλές δυνατότητες για πρόσβαση μέσω φορητών συσκευών σε πληροφορίες που σχετίζονται με συγκεκριμένο χώρο και αντικείμενα. Οι τεχνολογίες αυτές είναι ιδιαίτερα ελκυστικές για χώρους πολιτισμού όπου μπορούν να αποτελέσουν το υπόβαθρο για μαθησιακές εμπειρίες με παιγνιώδη χαρακτηριστικά. Η διπλωματική αυτή εργασία, που εκπονήθηκε στο Εργαστήριο της Ερευνητικής Ομάδας Αλληλεπίδρασης Ανθρώπου Υπολογιστή, του Τμήματος Ηλεκτρολόγων Μηχανικών και Τεχνολογίας Υπολογιστών του Πανεπιστημίου Πατρών, υπό την επίβλεψη του καθηγητή Νικόλαου Αβούρη, περιγράφει τη μελέτη, ανάπτυξη και αξιολόγηση μίας κινητής εφαρμογής σε χώρο πολιτισμού. Συγκεκριμένα, αφορά το Benaki MuseumScrabble (BMS), ένα χώρο-ευαίσθητο παιχνίδι για φορητές συσκευές, το οποίο απευθύνεται σε επισκέπτες του Μουσείου Μπενάκη. Στόχος του παιχνιδιού είναι να εμπλέξει τους παίχτες σε μια διαδικασία παιγνιώδους εξερεύνησης της έκθεσης του μουσείου και να αναδείξει τα εκθέματα αλλά και υλικό που ανήκει στο τμήμα της συλλογής που δεν εκτίθεται. / Location sensitive mobile games, are usually ludic multiplayer activities where engaging the physical space in the game is of particular importance. They are designed to be played in specific physical spaces, using mobile devices, leading to a strong interplay between physical and virtual spaces. These games have features such as motion and action in physical space, awareness of the surroundings of the player, interaction between players, as well as interaction with objects of the real world in different ways. These characteristics make them particularly attractive for learning activities in real space and have been used in recent years in cultural spaces where social, experiential and situated learning can take place [de Souza, 06]. The basic idea is that such games motivate players to associate information with physical activity, and are attractive as learning tools because they help the integration of the physical and social space with the digital dimension. In this context, it is interesting to explore the design process of an activity of this type, the rules of the game and the development of the corresponding technology (software, appliances, etc.), as well as the involvement of a museum's collection and the related digital information. The objective of this thesis is to describe the design and development of Benaki MuseumScrabble (BMS), a location sensitive game for mobile devices, aimed for young visitor and designed for part of the collection of the Benaki Historical Museum, in Athens.

Abstract Modern urban space, technological infrastructure, and sociability combine into a hybrid space that is the arena for urban pervasive games. Over the past two decades the changes in this game arena have been stealthy although substantial. Technological developments have helped to achieve true mobility of gaming devices, increased precision in localization, improved connectivity, and reduced orchestration required per player. Current pervasive location-based games can be played anytime anywhere. Subsequently, doors have been opened for a growing number of commercial games. These changes demand a new conceptualization of the urban game arena. This thesis focuses on playful appropriations of hybrid space. Hybrid space is urban space that entails ubiquitous technologies. Therefore, playful appropriations of hybrid space are always, to some extent, digital as well as urban. Prior research has identified two metaphors for urban pervasive games —true mobility and true sociability. This thesis proposes an additional metaphor, called synchronicity, for binding together different realities in pervasive games. They can be anything from mirror world like realistic virtual environments, such as 3D virtual representations of a city, to abstract realities, such as the backstory of the game, or the space identity of a certain location. While location awareness is an important binding factor between the virtual and physical worlds in pervasive gameplay, synchronizable elements can be anything from encouraged collocated gameplay to semantic similarities between the combined realities. This thesis is based on five game constructs that have been specifically designed and implemented as pervasive research games. Research data has been collected and analyzed with a mixed methods approach from field trials conducted in the wild. Constructive research is complemented with a literature review that maps the characteristics of current location-based mobile games and the game space. The main contribution of this thesis is the identification of the digital, abstract, and physical layers of reality in digital urban pervasive games. The second contribution is the identification and categorization of the synchronizable elements that bind these realities together. This thesis offers initial insights into translating this knowledge into the design of future pervasive games. / Tiivistelmä Urbaanitila on jatkuvassa muutoksessa, sillä se muotoutuu ja järjestyy uudelleen siellä kulkevien kaupunkilaisten kautta. Ubiikin teknologian, ihmisten kanssakäymisen ja modernin tilakäsityksen yhteisvaikutuksesta syntyy niin sanottu hybriditila, joka muodostaa peliareenan monille pervasiivisille peleille. Viime vuosikymmeninä tällä peliareenalla on tapahtunut vaivihkaisia mutta perustavaa laatua olevia muutoksia. Pelilaitteista on tullut aidosti mobiileja, ja ne kulkevat kaikkialla pelaajien mukana. Pelijärjestely vaatii vähemmän vaivaa pelaajaa kohden, paikannuksen tarkkuus on parantunut ja muutosten kautta myös kaupallisia pelejä on enemmän saatavilla. Nykyisiä pervasiivisia sijaintipohjaisia pelejä voi pelata milloin vain ja missä vain. Edellä mainittu kehitys edellyttää pervasiivisten pelien ja pelitilan uudelleen konseptualisointia. Väitöstyön aihe ei ole pelillisyys sellaisenaan, vaan “pelillisyys ja sen hyödyntäminen hybriditilassa”. Hybriditila on aina urbaani ja sisältää ubiikkia teknologiaa, minkä vuoksi pelit tässä tilassa ovat lähes poikkeuksetta myös digitaalisia. Aiempi tutkimus esittää, että saavutetut kehitysaskeleet voi niputtaa kahden metaforan alle. Nämä metaforat ovat: aito mobiilius sekä aito sosiaalisuus. Tämä väitöskirja esittää kolmannen, vielä määrittelemättömän tai saavuttamattoman metaforan näiden jatkoksi: synkronisuus. Synkronisoitavat piirteet tai elementit sitovat todellisuuksia yhteen pervasiivisessa pelitilassa. Tilassa olevat todellisuudet voivat olla realistisia pelimaailman kaltaisia virtuaalitiloja tai abstrakteja todellisuuksia, kuten pelitarinan muodostama todellisuus tai jonkin tietyn paikan tilaidentiteetti. Vaikka sijaintipohjaisuus on tärkeä todellisuuksia yhdistävä piirre, synkronisoitavat elementit voivat olla muutakin kuin sijaintikoordinaatteja. Pervasiiviset pelit nivoutuvat pelaajiensa päivittäiseen elämään, mikä tekee pelin kontekstista erottamattoman osan peliä. Tämä ominaisuus oikeuttaa ”in the wild” -menetelmien käytön tutkimuksessa, mikä tarkoittaa, että pelaamista ja pelejä tarkkaillaan luonnossa todellisessa ympäristössään. Tässä väitöstyössä käytetään konstruktioina varta vasten tätä tutkimusta ajatellen suunniteltuja ja toteutettuja pervasiivisia tutkimuspelejeä. Konstruktiivista tutkimusta tukee lisäksi teoreettinen tutkimusosio, joka koostuu kirjallisuuskatsaukseen pohjautuvasta nykyisten sijaintipohjaisten pelien ja pelitilan kategorisoinnista. Pervasiiviset pelit nivoutuvat pelaajiensa päivittäiseen elämään, mikä tekee pelin kontekstista erottamattoman osan peliä. Tämä ominaisuus oikeuttaa ”in the wild” -menetelmien käytön tutkimuksessa, mikä tarkoittaa, että pelaamista ja pelejä tarkkaillaan luonnossa todellisessa ympäristössään. Tässä väitöstyössä käytetään konstruktioina varta vasten tätä tutkimusta ajatellen suunniteltuja ja toteutettuja pervasiivisia tutkimuspelejeä. Konstruktiivista tutkimusta tukee lisäksi teoreettinen tutkimusosio, joka koostuu kirjallisuuskatsaukseen pohjautuvasta nykyisten sijaintipohjaisten pelien ja pelitilan kategorisoinnista.

A new hybrid Video Game Difficulty Balancing method which stands in between the two traditional methods (Static and Dynamic) has been suggested in this project aiming to discreetly estimate the player’s difficulty preference and make the respective in-game adjustment. This method has been based on the hypothesis that the user’s difficulty preferences can be to some extent predicted by some of their in-game actions. A casual mobile game containing a User Testing part has been developed for this purpose and played by 56 participants. The extracted results offer some insights on various gamers’ demographic groups behaviors and some indications that the intended prediction is feasible.

This thesis has been carried out at the company Stakkr AB in Stockholm. Stakkr have considered moving their existing C++ code to the visual programming language Blueprints in Unreal Engine 4. The objective of this study was to examine the performance of Blueprint if it’s suitable for mobile games, as well to provide Stakkr a suitability assessment of writing code in Blueprint and examine how well it performs compared with the language programming language C++. The assessment of suitability was performed by implementing a translation of two existing C++ classes to Blueprints and an assessment was made regarding development in Blueprint and performance testing between the existing C ++ and the developed Blueprint classes. The method of execution of the assessment was to work agile in short and structured iterations. The assessment of the suitability of the study showed that it was user-friendly to develop with Blueprint. However the existing C ++ classes outperformed the classes written in Blueprints. The reason why Blueprints perform worse has been identified and recommendations regarding the performance issues have been developed. / Detta examensarbete har genomförts på företaget Stakkr AB i Stockholm. Stakkr har övervägt att flytta över sin befintliga C++ kod till det visuella programmeringsspråk Blueprints i Unreal Engine 4. Målet med detta examensarbete har varit att undersöka om prestandan i Blueprints är lämplig för mobilspel samt att tillhandahålla Stakkr en lämplighetsutvärdering av att skriva kod i Blueprints och undersöka hur bra den presterar jämfört med språkstandarden C++. bedömningen av lämpligheten utfördes genom att genomföra en översättning av två befintliga C++ klasser till Blueprints, en bedömning av att utveckla i Blueprints har gjorts och prestandatester har utförts mellan de befintliga C++ gentemot de utvecklade Blueprintklasserna. Metoden för utförandet av bedömningen var att arbeta agilt i korta och strukturerade iterationer. Bedömningen från lämplighetsundersökningen visade att det var användarvänligt att utveckla i Blueprints. Dock presterade Blueprintklasserna sämre än de befintliga C++ klasser. Anledningen till varför Blueprints presterar sämre har identifierats och rekommendationer gällande detta har tagits fram.

Digital commerce is a natural part of our everyday life. To fast and easily be able to make purchases from our home without stress has become a matter of course for us. But the new way to make purchases places new demands on the sales, not least at the important customer meeting. The interaction between customer and seller disappears completely and known marketing methods must be adapted to the new conditions. How does the customer journey change when the step from discovering a product to buying it is just a few clicks away? The study aims to investigate and develop a digital sales process for a mobile game aimed for children. The process is based on the marketing framework See-Think-Do-Care and tries to answer questions like which components are needed in a sales flow? How can a product be adapted to different types of users and can UX design be used to get interested customers to buy the product? The method is divided into two different sections. One section for evaluating the chosen marketing framework and another for the development of the sales process. The development of the sales process was made stepwise by prototypes in different degrees of fidelity. The first part of the result ended up in the implementation of the marketing framework, a developed customer journey, and a compilation of ten guidelines to adhere to for increasing the conversion of new customers. The sales flow was then developed step by step from only showing the routing to be a clickable solution similar to the intended end product. The di↵erent prototypes were evaluated by user testing and it was shown that the largest problem was not to make users understand the sales flow, it was to make them understand the actual product. The hope is that the result of the study will be able to be tested in production and be used in the real sales of the product.